I completely agree that the MS2 tires are some of the best on-road tires you can buy. It's not meant for true snow work - it's not even "snowflake rated" (not that I really even trust the industry-created standard for this). I definitely wouldn't push your luck with that on snow.
My other point, more importantly, is the uselessness that is the TireRack review/survey section. 99% of drivers don't know anything at all about tires. Asking those drivers to rate tires in certain conditions is useless without true testing, comparison, or knowledge. A driver in AZ might rate an all-season as 9/10 in winter. Would a driver in Canada rate the same tire as 9/10 in winter? Probably not. Which is right? If there are 99 users in AZ that rate the tire 9/10 for winter and only 1 user in Canada that rates the tire 1/10 for winter, what is the result? Obviously, the same will apply for summer use, off-road use, wet traction, etc. Drivers just don't know where the tire's performance lies in the spectrum of all tires.
Another part of the problem is that drivers are rating a purchase (usually of $150+ per tire, which isn't a small amount). Is a person more likely to overrate or underrate an item they chose to pay a large amount for? I'd be willing to bet that the majority will, consciously or otherwise, marginalize any faults to rationalize their choice in spending.
I believe that the roads I have driven with these tires encompass what 95% of drivers will use their vehicles for in North America. Lake Tahoe sees snow storms upwards of 5 feet on a regular basis (I was there most winter weekends for about 3-4 years, they do not use salt there, btw), I lived on a curvy country road in CA, drove many highway miles between both oceans (smooth CA roads, to horrifically bumpy PA/NJ roads), and many more. My experience has significant variety, including driving similar to Dr. Demento's Canadien roads, eh. :cowboy: These tires performed significantly better than expected in every category, including snow. If I dropped into 4x2 and stabbed the loud pedal, they would slip. But in normal, responsible, snow driving, they are very, very, good. I believe the compromise jumping to the BFG A/T's will not be worth the marginal improvement he will see in deep snow driving. I tried both, and regretted the BFG A/T's. They were harsher, louder, didn't handle as well, and didn't last as long as the M/S2's.
Are there reviewers that will not truly understand the intended purpose of their tires? Absolutely. Will their reviews effect the results? The sample size of Tire Rack's review base is so large (millions of miles driven on the tires), that these anomalies, statistically, will be negligible. I only referred to Tire Rack "if you don't believe me". The M/S2 tire has a
professional review on Tire Rack as well.
To be clear, I do not believe Tire Rack should be used as an end all, be all, reference for tire purchases. It will, however, give the OP a good starting point to try tires and see which he likes. That is how we all learned our tire preferences, trial and error.
I understand and appreciate your objection to the anecdotal information provided on Tire Rack. That is all we have to work with on the internet, using anecdotal information to make more informed decisions. :smashputer:
The only way to REALLY know is to TRY! :biggrin1: